Gabonay a winner in football, academics
During William Gabonay’s high school football career, his charges – the Geibel Gators – won one game. One.
In four years.
And guess what?
Gabonay already is waxing melancholy.
“It seems weird to me I won’t be playing another year,” Gabonay said. “I miss it already.”
Don’t mistake Gabonay for a punishable glutton. Rather, recognize his commitment and dedication. Not only on the athletic field, but in the classroom as well. For these reasons, he was selected as the top male student/athlete at Geibel Catholic High School and will receive a $500 scholarship through the Davis & Davis Student/Athlete Scholarship Program.
The program, sponsored by Davis & Davis Law Firm and coordinated by the Herald-Standard, will culminate with a banquet to be held at 5 p.m. Sunday at Shady Side Inn.
Gabonay, the son of William and Christina Gabonay of Brier Hill, lettered four times as a member of the football team. He almost had as many positions, starting at guard, moving to center and concluding his career at fullback.
“It didn’t matter to me,” Gabonay said. “I lost a lot of weight, so it got a little tough to play the line. Every linemen dreams of being a running back anyway.”
Gabonay’s dream could have turned into a nightmare, had he let it. But instead of concentrating on the negative of playing on one of the WPIAL’s most struggling teams, Gabonay plodded ahead.
At times, when he and other members of the football team were heckled while walking down the hall, it was rough. But Gabonay never missed a practice, even when he was sporting a bum ankle.
“Sometimes, I wanted to skip practice and say ‘What the heck,'” Gabonay said. “It would get tedious, losing 30 games in a row, but I would force myself to go to practice. I went with hope every day that we could turn it around. It taught me a lot about hard work.
“I love playing football. It didn’t matter that we lost. I would definitely do it again.”
When Geibel finally put things together his junior season, Gabonay was there, not only to celebrate the victory but also to seal it. His fumble recovery late in the game ensured a 25-20 victory over Bentworth.
“It was very exhilarating,” Gabonay said. “It was the greatest feeling. It felt like we just won the Super Bowl.”
In the classroom, Gabonay is a winner as well. Ranking fourth out of a class of 61, he finished with a 3.99 grade point average. Gabonay will begin his secondary education at Penn State’s Fayette Campus, where he will major in engineering.
Gabonay will also have a chance to continue another sport in which lettered four years of high school – baseball – at Fayette.
“I was looking for an engineering school and I didn’t want to go too far away,” he said. “I wanted to continue playing baseball and I knew I would have a shot to play there right away.”
Gabonay was a member of the National Honor Society, vice president of the Latin Arts Society, a member of the Junior Classical League and a parish lector. He developed a particular fondness for his Latin teacher, Margaret Soisson.
“She’s just a great teacher and a great person,” said Gabonay. “You could always go to her if there was something you wanted to talk about.”
When Gabonay wasn’t practicing for baseball or football or doing homework, he had another all task on his hands. Gabonay’s family operates a farm, which means he is busy feeding and watering beef cattle, mending fences, repairing equipment and making hay.
All of Gabonay’s hard work, both in the classroom and on the athletic field, have taught him a valuable lesson.
“If you work hard, set goals and try to achieve them, good things will happen,” he said. ” You can pretty much achieve anything if you work hard enough.”